All About Mooncakes
A mooncake is a traditional Chinese pastry eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They are sliced into pieces and shared between friends and family at celebrations. There are two types of mooncakes: traditional and snowskin.
Traditional Mooncakes have a baked, golden-brown pastry crust and are eaten at room temperature. Because of this, traditional fillings tend to be shelf-stable and able to withstand heat: red bean paste, lotus seed paste, and whole salted egg yolk that symbolizes the full moon.
Snowskin Mooncakes use an unbaked crust made of chewy glutinous rice (similar to mochi) and are served cold. Snowskin mooncakes are more perishable than their traditional cousins, so people often opt for fresh fillings: popular flavors include fruit, chocolate, and green tea paste.
Both most commonly come in a round shape, and both are stamped with ornate designs.